Baneling
The baneling is an explosive zerg strain, evolved from the zergling. Overview Banelings are created from zerglings following a brief chrysalis phase. In the new form, the zergling's claws shrivel and become withered, and a swollen sac filled with volatile chemicals grows out of its back.2008-05-23. Baneling. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-05-23. When a baneling gets close enough to an enemy, it triggers a reaction within its volatile chemical payload, causing the creature to explode with a shower of searing acid. The explosion destroys the baneling but also inflicts terrible damage to its enemies,Baneling, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2011-01-19 highly effective against both structures and ground forces. In fact, a clutch of them is capable of wiping out a group of vehicles and infantry in the blink of an eye. The banelings' lethality is further enhanced by the zerg predilection for burrowing. An apparently safe area can soon turn into a deathtrap as these monstrosities emerge and roll into the midst of their foes, giving them virtually no time to react. Due to their bloated nature, banelings are barely able to walk. They have been observed to tuck into a ball and roll. History Banelings were first observed in the Siege of Cask. Its defenders held out against the zerg long enough so that it came to pass that only minor breeds such as zerglings continued to be spawned to be sent into battle. However, queens drove the development of a new strain, via zerglings incorporating native mould into themselves. These new banelings were thus sent against Cask, their spray of acid destroying its defences and erradicating the terrans present. The data the Terran Dominion could have recovered was lost when one of the survivours destroyed it and herself in a rage against the Dominion for using the colony as a place to observe the zerg's adaptability. This data, and the wreck of the battlecruiser hosting it, wasn't recovered until 2507.Dayton, Cameron. "Broken Wide." (March 5, 2010). Blizzard Entertainment. Broken Wide Accessed 2010-03-05. As such, when terrans encountered the baneling for the 'first time', they thought it was a mutation of a previously unknown genus rather than a morph of the zergling. The baneling was duly added to the list of threats and scientists began an effort to develop chemical rounds to detonate banelings prematurely. Game Unit |gun1name=Volatile Burst |gun1strength=20 (+15 vs light) |gun1attacks= |gun1ground=* |gun1air= |gun1cool=0.833 (can only be used once) |gun1range=0.25 |gun1upgrd=+2/+2 vs light |gun2name=Attack Buildings |gun2strength=80 |gun2attacks= |gun2ground=* |gun2air= |gun2cool=0.833 (can only be used once) |gun2range=0.25 |gun2upgrd=+5 |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |priority=20 |killscore=300 |makescore=150 |lostscore= |notes= |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel= |nocat= |concatbott= |concattop= }} Banelings are relatively small units that slowly move around the battlefield and kill opponents with a low-damage suicide attack. Banelings do not rollDustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Matt Cooper, David Kim. 2008-12-19. Battle Report (2). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-04-16. unless they have their speed upgrade.Yes. In the current build, Banelings are no longer roll but once they get the movement speed upgrade, they have the rolling animation. Cydra. 2009-04-22. Do the Banelings roll with the speed upgrade? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-04-22. It is strong against s, s, and s. It is weak against thors, stalkers, and roaches. Attacks Banelings are strong against melee unitsKarune. 2007-11-26. >Karune, can you please discuss new zerg pics. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-26. and "light" buildings such as bunkers and photon cannonsBlizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19. but are weak against ranged weapons due to their low hit points.Karune. 2007-11-26. Baneling Drop. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-26. They are designed to counter s, s, and un-upgraded s.Xordiah. 2008-04-11. Discussion of the Month April: The Baneling. StarFeeder. Accessed 2008-04-12.Karune. 2008-04-13. Discussion of the Month April: The Baneling. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-04-13. Groups of banelings do not attack individual targets with overkill, they will only detonate as many of themselves as needed to destroy one target before moving on to the next (or waiting for new orders). When assaulting multiple targets banelings can transition from a just-slain target to a still living one in a fraction of a second. The baneling's splash attack does not injure friendly units.I can confirm you that exploding Banelings do not damage allied units: both your units and those of your allies are not affected at all by the acid explosion. Zhydaris. 2010-01-19. Question on Baneling splash damage/friendlys. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-01-19.@Crazy_dave At the moment there's no friendly fire associated to the Explode ability. The baneling explode exactly when you press the key, no targeting needed, no delay. Yes, we've been following the thread you're referring to and we're quite interested in the discussion going on there. I suggest you to continue posting your suggestions because your opinion matters to us, even if we don't always reply to every single thread. @Phase_tn Here's one occasion where I think you might need smart casting. Let's assume you have 20 Zerglings currently selected, you don't have a lot of vespene gas and you feel the need for 5 or so Banelings. Without smart casting you'll have to manually select 5 of these little dodgy creatures and then morph them, or else you'll be mutating all of the 20 Zerglings into Banelings (and deplete your vespene reserves in the meanwhile). With smart casting on the other hand you'll be able to mutate 5 of them in a matter of seconds without deselecting them, just by pressing the key 5 times in a row. Obviously this is just an example, but I feel that smart casting has a role to play here. Zhydaris. 2009-12-15. Siege mode. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-12-15.Quote: :But Banelings splash damage doesn't hurt your own units right? No, it doesn't hurt your own units. Karune, Olivestrip. 2009-03-16. Are Banelings going to be visible? (post 11) Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-03-16.Karune. 2008-04-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 35. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-04-16.Karune. 2007-11-26. Baneling's Explosion: Friendly Fire or Not?. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-26. It does full damage within the splash radius. If a baneling is killed, it explodes, dealing splash damage around it. Banelings won't accidentally target buildings when ordered to attack units.Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18. Abilities Upgrades Strategies Banelings are a powerful economy-raiding force; by using overlords to transport them into an enemy base, they can quickly devastate the workers. However, a planetary fortress is well suited to destroying the banelings. Use of raiding is recommended even until late game.Zerglings are always useful in late game due to their speed and ability to surround enemies. Banelings too are especially useful against both Zealots and Marines, even with their upgrades, and thus will always be useful to counter them. Additionally, Banelings are always useful in raiding, which should be done throughout the entirety of a StarCraft II game. Karune. 2009-03-16. Teir 1 Unit in Late Game. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-03-16. Banelings should be mixed with zerglings when facing ranged opponents because they become difficult to focus fire; even one baneling escaping the fire can destroy a mass of ranged units.Banelings are visible and still very effective. When they are grouped with Zerglings, it is hard to focus fire several Banelings approaching at the same time. Even one Baneling getting through can be devastating to mass Marine armies or groups of Zealots. Burrowed Banelings are also like mines, deadly when used as an ambush on unsuspecting forces. Karune. 2009-03-16. Are Banelings going to be visible? (post 2) Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-03-16. Banelings have low hit points so are best used in ambushes. They can burrow, attacking like mines, but can also attack from other hidden areas, such as behind trees, to accomplish the ambush.Pardo, Rob and Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-06-29. WorldWide Invitational 2008: Pictures, Presentations, Videos (StarCraft II Panel: Evolving Design) SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-06-30. Banelings are very useful against marines and zealots, even into the late game, and generally dominate units such as zerglings in combat, but zerglings can come out ahead with micro.The tier 2 battle continues with Banelings that can dominate Zerglings, but with micro, Zerglings can actually come out ahead in Zergling vs. Baneling battles. Karune. 2008-08-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-08-18. Banelings can be defeated by marines equipped with stimpacks or defended by marauders.Zarhym. 2010-03-12. #BlizzChat Developer Chat on Twitter – 3/12. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-03-13. As they do splash damage, banelings are effective against cloaked units. For instance, a group of dark templar attacking a hatchery can be eliminated by banelings that target the hatchery itself,2007-17-11, StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 46. Karune. Accessed on 2008-18-11 or by commanding the baneling to explode on the spot.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010 A baneling/roach combo can be very powerful against terrans. The roaches will soak incoming damage, making it easier for the banelings to reach their targets.Hammy. 2009-04-04. ESL Finals Paris StarCraft II Gameplay Impressions. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-18. Notes A baneling levitated by Anti-Gravity explodes when destroyed,Exclusive Karune's answers for StarCraftCZ.com. StarCraftCZ.com Accessed 2008-06-03. dealing damage to air units. This can open up new tactics in team games.Karune. 2008-05-07. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 37. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-07. A burrowed baneling can have unburrow set to autocast, giving it an attack ability similar to that of a spider mine. Banelings started a famous song parodying pop-singer Justin Bieber song "Baby" called "Banelings" Baneling Development As of April 2008, banelings have been increased in size from previous builds to make it easier to focus fire on them. In addition their splash radius was increased. The supply cost was higher.One of the reasons the size of the Banelings were increased from the size in the original Protoss Release Video was to make it plausible to defend against it. Before, if you have a group of Banelings attack with Zerglings, it was near impossible to focus fire on the Banelings. In the current build, their size, splash damage distribution, and hit points have been increased. These changes still make them potent, yet still allow the possibility of defense with superior micromanagement. The final size of the Banelings still may change, but this is the current design they are testing. Karune. 2008-04-14. Baneling model - too large. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-04-14. References Category:Featured Articles Category:StarCraft II Zerg units Category:Zerg breeds